Pakistan to Probe If ‘External Interference’ Caused Power Failure: Energy Minister

Shopkeepers sit at a market during a nationwide power outage, in Islamabad, on Jan. 23, 2023. - A massive power breakdown in Pakistan on Jan. 23 affected most of the country's more than 220 million people, including in the mega cities of Karachi and Lahore. Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images

Pakistan’s energy minister said on Jan. 24 that the government would investigate the possibility of “external interference” in the widespread power failure on Jan. 23, which left 220 million people without electricity for hours.

Speaking at a press conference, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a three-member committee to investigate the cause of the power failure.